Another chance
by LadySariku
Summary: Sequel to "Not quite the same" - Karou comes back, but she isn't human anymore - now, she is a goddess, and how can she tell Kenshin that she is to bring him and Ryu with her?
1. A new life

Disclaimer: don't own 'em, only own Ryu… holds Kenshin plushie I have many, many things in store for you…. cackles evilly

Many moons had past since that tragic day, and Kenshin had settled down near a small village far, far away from that horrible place. His son Ryu, now 6 years old, looked more like Karou more than ever. The same eyes, the same hair, and the same movements - even the same voice. The only thing that he had of Kenshin's was his placid-like temper…. Soundlessly, he picked up his sword from its place next to the futon and slid it out of its sheath. He did have another one - the one that… Kenshin swallowed hard, and rammed it back into its sheath and let it fall with a clatter to the earthen floor. The slight noise was enough to wake Ryu, and in a sleepy voice he asked "Papa? What was that?" and blinked.

The rurouni turned to his son and said calmly "It was nothing - ready to practice?" Ryu nodded eagerly, and jumped up to grab his dagger from under his pillow. Kenshin had been teaching him to defend himself with it - and he had promised to make him a _real_ sword once he mastered the small dagger. Kenshin headed outside to set up the practice dummy, and Ryu shortly followed. Across the clearing where the two began to set up for practice, a small, pale looking women watched them with sorrowful eyes. Her dark blue kimono fluttered in the wind, and she reached up to gently touch the single sakura blossom that lay her ebony hair. She remembered when she had received it, that day with _him_ sitting next to her, and talking about what they meant to each other. With a pang of regret, she moved her hand to press it slowly to her mouth, remembering the time they had kissed beneath the sakura tree - did he remember it too? With a fond smile she looked upon the boy, who had finally succeeded in puncturing the practice dummy with his dagger, and heard him laugh. _'_

_So much like when I used to laugh' _thought the women sadly. What did she have to laugh about now? It had taken her many years trailing after them to finally catch up, tracing and retracing her steps until she finally stumbled upon the small hut they called 'home'. If she hadn't had to decide whether or not to see them first was mostly the reason that it had taken her so long - the other part was if she should even go after them… Once, she would have made the decision in a heartbeat's time - now, it took her many moons… She stepped back, and a loud crack rang through the clearing and looked down in horror, as she felt terrible pain and everything went black…. Kenshin immediately whipped out his sword and in a low voice told his son "Ryu - go inside and wait until I say its okay" and began to creep into the forest. Ryu began to protest, but when he heard the urgency in his father's voice, he ran into the hut.

Kenshin's eyes darted wildly around the forest, and he was able to pinpoint someone's chi - a _very _familiar person indeed. He crashed into the underbrush, only to find the one he still loved, looking deathly pale. He swiftly picked her up in his arms, and without a word rushed into the hut, scaring his son. "Papa? Who is the pretty lady? Is she hurt? Will she be okay?" asked Ryu timidly as he watched his father rush around, trying to locate bandages and to find some cold water. He could tell that she must have either broken or sprained her ankle, as he noticed it when he picked her up that it was rapidly swelling. With gentle fingers he probed her ankle, and found that it was wasn't broken, just badly sprained - just as she came awake, in the slightly darkened room of a hut. She sensed that she knew the person whom she was laying on, and remained quiet as he gently treated her ankle, only crying out when he tied it tightly about the bone. She heard him murmur "Almost done - don't know what she could've done to hurt it so badly…" She then sat up, startling Kenshin as he moved back to lean against the wall. They crashed, sending Karou onto the floor and Kenshin into the wall, and leaving Ryu to jump out of the way. She picked herself up and winced as she tried to put weight on her ankle when she found herself being picked up from behind and set onto a futon in the nearby corner.

She found herself looking into a pair of amethyst eyes, and a reassuring voice saying "Its ok - your safe now…" She heard herself reply "Thanks…" and looked at him uncomfortably. Kenshin finally couldn't stand it - he leaned in quickly, and set his lips upon Karou's, his need and want coming into the open as many moons of loneliness poured out. Ryu saw his father lean in and give the strange lady a kiss, and ran out of the hut, disgusted. What caused him to do something like that - AND IN FRONT OF HIM! Ryu ran on, trying to hide the fact that his dad must like this lady - and he might lose him forever……


	2. Togethor again

Disclaimer : Don't own them, just Ryu... So don't even think about sueing!

It was Karou who finally broke the kiss, wanting to explain everything before they went too far - and did something that they shouldn't. And there was the ever present danger that was growing - she needed to tell them before it was too late… Karou slowly sat up, brushing her hair out of her eyes as she said in a serious voice "Listen - we need to talk.." but didn't get any farther as Kenshin reached around her and gently set her in his lap facing him. His amythest eyes laughing, he asked her "What could be so important?.." but Karou hushed him quickly. Her laughter gone, she said quietly "Kenshin - we need to get something straight - I'm dead."

She took a deep breath, and continued, "When I died, I was given the choice of becoming a goddess, or going to where mortals go when they die - I chose to be a goddess. I was allowed to marry a mortal, ONLY if I could succeed in completing a set a minor tasks, which I did…" She could see the confusion in his face, and said "But someone is after me - they were against me in the first place, and now I'm being hunted - that's why I came to warn you, and to…" Karou swallowed hard, then gently took his face in her hands, and said "I have the power to make you a god - and Ryu, would eventually grow up to be a god too…" and waited for the news to sink in. When the news finally hit, Kenshin calmly placed his hands on hers and gazed deep into her eyes, unblinking and murmered "I'll do anything to be with you, koshii…"

Karou blinked, tears forming in her eyes when she whispered sadly "To make you a god, I would…" but was overcome with sobs and had to pause. Kenshin began to rub her back and soothe her with soft words until the tears ceased and she was able to go on. She grasped his hand, and quickly spat out "To make you a god, I would….have to kill you with my own hand.." and waited for Kenshin's reaction. To her surprise, he kissed her gently and said "I'll do whatever it takes for you to be with me again - even if it comes to that.." and looked around. Where was Ryu? He called out harshly "Ryu! Where are you?" and glanced around the small hut, but the youngster was no where to be seen.

Karou, sensing his urgency, asked quickly "Is something wrong?" and hurried outside, Kenshin on her heels. A slashed tree lay to the right of the hut, and Kenshin could sense the fading presence of Ryu's chi near there. He ran to it, his eyes hard and searching when he saw what he feared - Ryu's dagger lying beside it innocently. Karou stifled a gasp as she recognized it, and barely had time to look at Kenshin before he was off, almost to the point of flying through the crowed forest. Karou followed silently, her face grim….

Ryu lay near a stump, crying and whimpering beside it. How dare that lady? Just walk in and do _that_ kind of stuff with his father - IN FRONT OF HIM! He had always been protective of his dad, and this was just too much for the young boy to bear. On top of that, he had lost his dagger - the one Kenshin had given him when he was old enough… The boy hiccupped a bit, then peered about a bit to see if he knew where he was. Nothing seemed familiar - every tree seemed to be alike, every stone seemed to be an exact copy of another close to it - was he lost? Deep within Ryu's heart he knew he was hopelessly lost, but he wouldn't admit it. He got up and wandered in and out of the trees until he got tired, then sat down near a large boulder to rest, when a eerie voice echoed behind him and said "Aw, is the little boy lost? I can help you…". Ryu jerked around, only to gasp and scream in horror…..


	3. Unto death I do serve thee

'_Keep him going Karou, keep him going. Just a little longer…_' thought Karou. When the trail had grown cold and Karou exhausted from searching, they had stopped to rest on a narrow trail, shrouded in trees and vines. Now the two sat in silence, straining to hear or see any sign of the young boy that had disappeared. She turned, about to offer any sort of idea of where the boy could be when she caught sight of Kenshin's face, deep in thought. Not wanting to disturb him, she closed her mouth and looked away, and prayed to any god or goddess that was listening to let him be occupied for just a few moments longer…

Scream. Run. Do anything! Ryu struggled to command his body, to get away from this creature. A creature that was truly from a nightmare, grievously ugly. Finally, Ryu managed to crouch into a fighting stance, and trying to spot any nearby stones. An amused chuckle emitted from the monster, and with a long, clawed hand he reached out for the boy… When a stone flew past it's out stretched hand, only to smack itself into the monster's forehead. The hand stopped reaching out, and went up to the beast's forefront to remove the offending object, while Ryu stood at the ready, a heavy stone in each hand and a determined look on his face. No longer amused, the clawed hand whipped outwards, and cast the rock at Ryu. His reflexes kicked in, but nothing in the world could stop the rock from clacking loudly against his temple, and him crashing to the ground with a stream of crimson blood flowing out from the wound. The clawed hand shot out and gripped the boy firm around the middle, and started lumbering off to it's awaiting mistress. Unnoticed by the monster, blood continued to flow from the boy's head wound, leaving a thick trail of blood along the edge of the pathway.

Karou glanced worriedly around the edge of the clearing, hoping to fool Kenshin enough so he thought that she was actually concerned for the boy's fate. Don't make her laugh - the boy was of no concern for her, just merely a pawn in the game. There. Karou picked up an answer to the signal she had sense out a few seconds ago - the monster was close. Now for that stupid swordsman… Karou turned to him, and putting on a mask of motherly concern, she knelt by him, and softly murmured, "**I'll go off and search - you wait here, just to make sure that he doesn't slip by us somehow, alright?**" He barely nodded, still deep in thought. Carefully treading through the underbrush she made her way down the path, feeling that the monster was close. Perhaps, too close. Finally, the heady scent of blood assailed her, and she turned to face the left. There, sat the monster with the boy in one clawed grip and looking for all the world like a dog waiting to receive praise from his master. "**Drop him. Now there's a good boy, now just drop him at Mother's feet, and I'll let you go free.**" crooned Karou, stepping near the monster and holding out a hand to reach over and pet it's head area. The monster released the boy stiffly onto the ground near Karou's foot, and hunched over so the women could praise it. How it had longed to be free, for so long… Karou gently began to scratch it's neck with a hand, and reached into the band that she wore around her waist. The monster that had been kept hidden for so long, never saw it coming. As it finished dying, Karou wiped the blade that she had used to slash it's neck on the grass and re-sheathed it. Surely Kenshin would come soon…? She mechanically checked the boy's pulse and heartbeat, only to find that both had completely stopped. The boy was well on his way to the spirit world by now. '_No matter. I can still use him for something._' Karou thought, and rubbed a small amount of powder from a jar that she kept within the hidden compartment at the end of her sheath, specially made for her. It would mask the boy's aura so it made it seem like the heart was still going, andthe body was still alive. Handy, but Karou didn't like to waste it. Still, this was a big thing for her, so exceptionswould have tobe made. Slinging the Ryu's body over her shoulder, she started back to where she had left Kenshin, and never looked back at the faithful creature that had carried out her orders unto death. Now it was time to finish off that weak excuse of a swordsman…..


End file.
